Hide your Friskie Powder because Cocaine Bear 2 is reportedly in development with Elizabeth Banks eyed to direct

Last Updated on July 29, 2024

While San Diego Comic-Con continues to bring one surprise after another, a bear hopes to steal some of the spotlight with news about sticking its snoot into more nose candy for Cocaine Bear 2. According to industry scooper Daniel RPK, a sequel to last year’s dark comedy thriller Cocaine Bear is in the works, with Elizabeth Banks producing and possibly getting back behind the camera as the project’s director.

Speaking with Rolling Stone last year about a possible sequel, Banks told the outlet, “I had an absolutely great time working on the (first movie). I loved how subversive, crazy, silly, and funny it was. I loved surprising people with the cast. I don’t think anybody was expecting Margo Martindale, who’s 70 years old, to shoot that kid. We had a lot fun, and if I got the opportunity to surprise the audience and delight myself again, I would take it. … I’ve been very fortunate to work across a lot of genres and things that appeal to me. Cocaine Bear also came to me during the pandemic. We were all locked away, and I loved the sense of fun inside of it. It was what I wanted to see. And it had this message about mankind’s culpability in nature’s demise. It spoke to me on a lot of levels.”

Cocaine Bear is based on true events that took place in Kentucky in 1985. The story goes a little something like this: In 1985, convicted drug smuggler Andrew Thornton was on a smuggling run from Columbia and had dumped several packages full of cocaine before bailing out of a plane himself. Unfortunately, he hit his head on the tail of the aircraft and wound up in a freefall to the ground, where he was found dead in someone’s driveway. Several months later, a 175-pound black bear was found dead after devouring approximately $15 million worth of cocaine that had been dropped by Thornton. “Its stomach was literally packed to the brim with cocaine,” the medical examiner who’d performed the bear’s necropsy said. “There isn’t a mammal on the planet that could survive that. Cerebral hemorrhaging, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, renal failure, heart failure, stroke. You name it, that bear had it.”

Scripted by Jimmy Warden, the cinematic take on the concept finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500-pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of CocaineCocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow… and blood.

The film stars Keri Russell (Antlers), Margo Martindale (The Americans), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), Kahyun Kim (American Gods), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project), and newcomer Scott Seiss.

While we wait for the official word about Cocaine Bear 2, revisiting the original sounds like a fine idea. Cocaine Bear took audiences by storm upon release, with Banks delivering a whip-smart comedy, outrageous violence, and an ending that could bring the story in multiple directions. Are you excited by the possibility of Cocaine Bear 2? Let us know in the comments section below.